I have been looking for birth/marriage information on g-grandparents - Rocco Turtora/Tortora/Tortoro and Marie Antonia/Antonetta D'Ursi.

Both born in Italy - Antonia about 1868/69 and Rocco about 1870 and married 1888, according to 1900 US census record. We believe they are from the San Giorgo Lucano area. Arrived 5/11/1896 on the Alstatia from Naples w/3 children Giuseppe, Maria and Francesco. Settled in McKees Rocks living on property of Giovanni Pastino. Understanding is that Maria Giuseppa (D'Ursi) Pastino was sister of Maria Antonia - daughters of Rose Fasanelli D'Ursi.

Both Rocco and Antonia were dead by 1903 (Rocco is buried at St Mary's Cemetery) and remaining (3 out of 5) children were "raised" by relatives in the area. We have no information on Antonia or her two children, Francesco and Dominico (born in US).

My grandfather - Battista Turtora aka Patrick Turner was born in 1897/98 in McKees Rocks area, but do not have a birth certificate/baptismal record for him.

Thank you for your assistance. Unfortunately, Uncle Joe (Giuseppe Turtoro) I know was confused about the year they arrived from Italy. Is there any way for me to check/verify his birthplace? I figure that there would be something/somewhere - hopefully on-line - that we could find out more information concerning his parents - Rocco and Antonia D'Ursi Turtora i.e. correct name and spelling, birthplace and dates, marriage, and parents.

My grandfather - Battista Turtora - was known as Pat Turner - do you have any ideas as to where I can find out his real name. My guess would be Pasquale Battista, but no verification/information as such. My aunt was told when she was a child by her "grandmother" (Mary Pastino) that Pat's real name was John.

In 1918 - we found a cousin of Joe Tortoro living on Island Ave in McKees Rocks. He registered for the draft as Patrick Battesto Turtoro. Born in 1880 and a citizen of Italy. It seems that a lot of relatives worked for the P & LE Railroad. I don't know if the documentation for the railroad is available for personnel during it's early years in McKees Rocks, PA.

Other than the cousin - we have no knowledge of Turtora/Tortora/Tortoro.

Hi,
abt the arrival, no doubts that this is the right record :
First Name : Rocco
Last Name : Tortora
Nationality : Italy, Italian
Date of Arrival : May 11th, 1896
Age at Arrival : 26
Gender : Male
Ship of Travel : Alsatia
Port of Departure : Naples
Manifest Line Number : 0797http://www.libertyellisfoundation.org/p ... 5nZXIiOw==
travelling with wife and children..

no birthplace, but by Giuseppe/Joseph WWI draft registration card, he was born in San Giorgio Lucano, so the family coming from this town..
abt civil records on line no luck because are the civil records from 1901 to 1910 so no helpfulhttps://familysearch.org/search/image/i ... %3D2043814

abt real first name of your Battista Tortora aka Pat Turner, just searching the baptism record or birth certificate you can know... but because in 1900 census he is John, and then Battista, I believe that he was baptized and had the first name of Giovanni Battista or Giambattista....

I am not sure that my grandfather's birth registration or baptismal records exist anymore. The Catholic church that was used by the Italian immigrants in McKees Rocks, PA burned down along with the records it held. No state records were needed back when he was born (1897/98). (My mother's baptismal record shows her father as Baptiste - she was born in late 1929, so her records are available.)

The census records for 1900 (first and last for Rocco and Antonia) have the names anglicized from the Italian names. Ellis Island record shows Giuseppe, Maria, Francesco, Rocco and Antonia.

Can you suggest where I can locate any birth/marriage records for either Rocco or Marie Antonia Dursi - a town/city that is searchable on-line? I am new to this and trying to work on it with cousins.

From what I have been told - g-grandparents lived on land owned by Giovanni Pastino (John Pastin) family, and the two wives were sisters (Marie Antonia Dursi Turtora and Maria Giuseppe Dursi Pastino), their parents were Rose Fasanella Dursi and Francesco Dursi.

November 2 nd is All Souls' Day ,a Catholic feast dedicated to the memorial of the dead which, according to tradition, can be dated back to ancient times. This day, in almost every country, the dead are remembered with different rituals and customs, yet the aim is just one: give some consolation to ...

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